Improving Efficiency of Diesel Traction and Adoption of Liquid Sunshine for Indian Railways

Indian Railways is facing many challenges. The railway ministry has announced 100% electrification of the Indian Railways traction network by putting an end to the diesel locomotives. This decision needs in-depth debate and discussions as the following paper illustrates. This is necessitated by the fact that India has in-house design and manufacturing capability of diesel locomotives with large export potential. India, like every other country in the world, is unique and has its own set of problems. Solutions to these problems have to be established by taking into account the localised context. Self-powered locomotives in contrast to the catenary-based locomotives offer many advantages and flexibility in operation. The use of methanol as fuel for these locomotives provides unparalleled advantages on all three ‘E’ dimensions, i.e. economy, efficiency and environment. In this context, this paper discusses the roadmap for efficiency improvement and adoption of methanol as traction fuel for self-powered propulsion for Indian Railways. The paper also compares the two proposed modes of traction for Indian Railways and proves beyond doubt that the elimination of self-powered locomotives from Indian Railways is a faulty decision and must be corrected urgently. IR, on the contrary, should convert its entire fleet of diesel locomotives to operate on methanol, which is a right path to follow.